An engineer’s precision. A builder’s hands. Four decades in Golden.
Francis “John” Hermanussen has spent 21 years as a self-employed real estate broker, investor, developer, builder, property manager, and host. He came to real estate the long way around — and that is precisely why his clients benefit.
Not your typical broker
John is a Colorado Registered Professional Engineer with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A. from Arizona State University in statistics and finance. Before real estate, he spent two decades as a senior sales engineer in industrial automation — ten years with Square D / Schneider Electric and ten with Allen-Bradley / Rockwell Automation — engineering solutions for electric and water utilities, mining and manufacturing operations, municipalities, systems integrators, and contractors across Colorado and Arizona.
That background shows up in how he works. Where others see a listing, John sees a building: the septic system, the drainage, the foundation, the zoning envelope — and the numbers behind the deal. An engineer runs the inspection in his head before the inspector ever arrives, and an M.B.A. in finance means the math gets done before the emotion does.
Golden isn’t a market he researched. It’s home.
Green Mountain High School, class of 1977. He lives on Lookout Mountain. And over 21 years he has worked Jefferson County’s process from nearly every side:
- Former licensed OWTS installer (onsite wastewater treatment systems — formerly ISDS); upgraded systems on multiple properties
- Use permits, building permits, re-zoning, re-platting, minor adjustments, and neighborhood meetings
- A special usage-monitoring project to establish maximum occupancy on a short-term rental he owns
- Environmental health and groundwater issues across multiple Jefferson County properties
- Food-service familiarity from owning a rented restaurant building in Golden and serving as vendor chair for Buffalo Bill Days
When a deal runs into the county, a slope, a septic field, or a zoning line, that experience is the difference between a dead contract and a closed one.
Full-spectrum real estate
- Broker — licensed in Colorado, with data-licensed MLS access to both REcolorado and Altitude MLS
- Property manager — a Golden-area portfolio of long-term, mid-term, and short-term rentals
- Host — including Colorado Lodge (7 bedrooms, 8 baths, picnic area and party barn — built for weddings, reunions, and gatherings) and the Downtown Golden Bungalow
- Investor, developer, and builder — he has bought it, entitled it, built it, fixed it, rented it, and sold it
Buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants all get the same person — one who has stood in each of those shoes.
In the community
Current member of the Golden Rotary Club. Former member of the Golden Lions Club, and former board member of Buffalo Bill Days, Inc.
How he works
Straightforward, and in your interest. John’s favorite tools, in roughly this order: a spreadsheet, a phone call, a smile, and a handshake. The goal is always a win–win — value created in the big picture, not squeezed out of the person across the table.
Let’s talk.
Francis “John” Hermanussen
Licensed Colorado Real Estate Broker · Registered Professional Engineer
GoldenBrokers.com · Golden, Colorado
303-215-0296 · john@goldenbrokers.com